The first (good) modular gaming mouse.

**Introducing the Orbital Pathfinder: The First Modular Gaming Mouse**

In the ever-evolving world of gaming peripherals, innovation often comes in unexpected forms. The Orbital Pathfinder is set to revolutionize the gaming mouse market by introducing a groundbreaking concept: modularity. This isn't just another gaming mouse; it's a customizable tool that allows users to tailor its shape and size to fit their preferences seamlessly.

**The Concept of Modular Design**

The Orbital Pathfinder represents a significant leap forward in gaming technology. Unlike traditional mice, which require purchasing an entirely new product for even minor design changes, the Pathfinder offers unprecedented flexibility. Whether you prefer a longer, wider, or more arched back design, this mouse adapts to your needs within just five seconds. It's not merely a prototype; it's a glimpse into the future of gaming peripherals.

**Design and Mechanism**

The core of the Orbital Pathfinder lies in its innovative design. The base mouse is accompanied by a collection of modular parts—left grips, right grips, and rear shells—that allow for extensive customization. Instead of relying on small magnets or screws, this mouse employs a rail and ratcheting mechanism that ensures durability and ease of use.

The left and right sides feature guides where the grips slide in and lock into place with ease. The prototype, crafted using 3D-printed resin, is both visually appealing and robust. This mechanism not only enhances functionality but also underscores the mouse's potential for long-term reliability.

**Customization Options**

One of the most exciting aspects of the Orbital Pathfinder is its adaptability. Users can choose from a variety of configurations to suit their hand sizes and grip preferences. The base model, without any additional parts, offers a ultra-narrow design ideal for fingertip grips, making it thinner than popular models like the Op18 or mz1.

The customization doesn't stop there. By adding left and right grips, users can adjust the width of the mouse from 47mm to an impressive 65mm. Each grip style offers distinct benefits, from streamlined designs to configurations with dedicated ridges for pinky support. The rear shell further allows for adjustments in slope, catering to preferences similar to those found in mice like the Razor Viper.

**Rear Shell Adjustments**

The rear shell's adjustability is a standout feature. Users can choose between a steep slope or a more gradual one, providing varying levels of palm support. This fine-tuning ensures comfort across different hand sizes and grip styles, making it a versatile option for various users.

**Testing and Feedback**

During testing, the Pathfinder proved to be both comfortable and functional. Its ability to mimic popular mouse designs while offering unique configurations makes it a compelling choice for enthusiasts. While it doesn't replicate every existing mouse design perfectly, its modular approach offers a fresh alternative in a market often dominated by incremental updates.

**Design Philosophy and Practical Use**

The Orbital Pathfinder's design philosophy centers around user-centric innovation. By allowing users to experiment with different grip styles without the need for multiple purchases, it democratizes access to tailored gaming experiences. This is particularly beneficial for casual gamers and enthusiasts alike, ensuring a perfect fit without compromise.

For instance, the mouse can be adjusted to accommodate an ultra-lightweight preference or provide substantial palm support, catering to both professional players and casual users. Its versatility means it can serve as a primary mouse for many, reducing the need for frequent replacements.

**Weight and Firmware Considerations**

The Pathfinder's weight range is another highlight, offering options from 45g to 60g. This makes it competitive in the lightweight gaming mouse segment. The use of ABS injection molding ensures a durable finish, with potential for further customization through 3D-printed grips once the final product launches.

Firmware development is still in its early stages, but the current pre-production version has shown promise. As with any emerging technology, there may be minor hiccups, but the potential benefits far outweigh initial uncertainties.

**Price and Availability**

Priced at $189 USD, the Orbital Pathfinder offers excellent value for its comprehensive features. Pre-orders are set to begin soon, though production timelines may face delays typical of new product launches. For those eager to explore new possibilities in gaming peripherals, this mouse represents an exciting opportunity.

**Conclusion**

The Orbital Pathfinder isn't just a gaming mouse; it's a testament to the future of customizable gaming hardware. By empowering users to create their ideal mouse within seconds, it challenges traditional norms and sets a new standard for modularity and adaptability. Whether you're a seasoned gamer or a casual player, the Orbital Pathfinder offers a personalized experience that feels as unique as your gameplay. This innovation breathes fresh air into a market often stuck in familiar patterns, promising endless possibilities for future developments.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis mouse and that Mouse are actually the same thing they're just configured differently it's called the orbital Pathfinder and it's about to be the first modular gaming mouse meaning that you can change the shape pretty dramatically to fit your own preferences up until now if you wanted a different shaped gaming mouse even slightly different you would have to buy an entirely new mouse and you might not even like it but this solves that problem if you want something that's a little bit longer maybe a little bit wider maybe a little bit more of an arch at the back for some more hand contact you can do that here within about 5 Seconds this is not a final product it's just the prototype for now but let me tell you it is too interesting not to take a look at I've always wondered what a modular gaming mouse would look like how would that even work how would it all fit together so let's take a look with the orbital Pathfinder you get the base Mouse which is this right here along with a box of parti shells parts for the left parts for the right and also the rear now I thought something like this maybe would be using small magnets or maybe really tiny screws but here they're actually using a rail and ratcheting mechanism which works pretty well the left and right side of the mouse have these pair of guides where the grips slide in and hold into place but they can also be pulled out really easily the Prototype I have here is 3D printed with resin which is then sanded and painted actually looks not bad at all but this mechanism in particular seems pretty durable and reliable so far not immediately what I would have thought of for a modular gaming mouse but yeah no complaints at all I also want to mention the base of the orbital which is you know without adding anything at all it's actually not unusable if you want something that is ultra narrow for fingertip grip for example it's pretty viable my thumb and Pinky oddly sit in a pretty comfortable spot this would also make it the thinnest gaming mouse that I know of with a taper of around 40 mm whereas something like the op18 or my own zero Mouse land around the 52 mark it would also be thinner than the mz1 which is just below 50 so yeah this feels pretty unique but of course the beauty is when you start adding stuff this is where it gets really interesting so we've got some left grips some Right Grips and some shells for the rear for the left side you're mostly changing how much of a flare there is and how far forward your thumb sets in this current kit you've got four different options from almost straight like the GPR super light to something with a lot more support what's also cool though is that you actually have spaces here to adjust the width of the mouse these just sandwich right in between The Mouse and the grips all up you can adjust the total width from that base 47 mm or so right up to like 65 mm if you want something that is super wide and then we've got the right side again you can go more streamlined more conventional something like this for example or something with a bit more flare or pinky support or maybe you want to try something that is really different like this proper dedicated ridges for your pinky finger and your ring finger I actually found myself using this configuration way more than I thought there are a couple more grips here like this style but they didn't seem to fit my hand that great but still pretty cool because you just won't find many gaming mice out there like this and then finally you've got the rear where basically you can adjust the amount of slope at the back maybe you want something that slopes down early like a razor Viper or something with a bit more support you also have es here too at the back by the way which might be my favorite part of this modular design all of our hand sizes are different so to be able to fine-tune the amount of hand contact and palm support that you prefer that is seriously cool so yeah orbital Pathfinder this thing is pretty sick you can create wildly different feeling mice within the same one Mouse which has just never been done before but how much does that actually matter I mean when most Pro players are using the G Pro superi which let's be honest this is the most shap Mouse in existence it does raise the question how much does Mouse shape even matter well for me I actually mained the G superl for a very long time I can swap back to this mouse no problem at all play pretty well with it and feel pretty much right at home at the same time it's a mouse where I was never 100% satisfied with it particularly the shape if though you gave me the option to do some small tweaks to it like give it some more Palm contact support at the rear maybe a bit more flare at the back that is something that I would do in an instant at the same time I don't think that Mouse shape is one of these things where you have to keep trying new options and buying different mice every month and you know keep searching for that elusive end game which is going to unlock some hidden potential which you never had before that is not how I see this product but you know at the very least just being able to like fine-tune the size of gaming mouse that you want forgetting about all the different shape tweaks that you can do just being able to adjust the size of your mouse is pretty Next Level and I I think that is probably one of the main things that people will get value of here and then after that yeah you can then play with the amount of flare or Arch that you want at the rear and then ultimately find something that allows you to play with a low tension really naturally feeling grip with a lot of mouse purchases out there you kind of have to roll the dice maybe even force yourself to get used to them but this you're almost guaranteed to find something that feels good also if you're super into this stuff maybe you're like an Enthusiast aim trainer for example this allows you to practice and train with other grip Styles which you might not be proficient with without buying another mouse now there are a few mice out there of course which the orbital can't even get close to replicating like the g303 the mz1 big ergonomic mice like the ec2 and of course my own zero Mouse I actually don't even think the orbital can fully mimic 100% the feel of medium mice like the super light or some options from Pulsar for example it can get close-ish but this is best thought of as its own thing the final product will be ABS injection molded which will be less dense than the resin that this prototype is using so it'll be about 10% lighter than what I have here realistically at the lightest you're looking at something between 45 and 50 g up to something that should land around that 60 G Mark at the heaviest so yeah that's not bad at all reasonably competitive actually with a lot of medium shell stuff out there this prototype as well is running some very pre-production firmware so I didn't play too long with it again was able to find a couple of configurations in particular that felt really comfortable to play with now if this was already a product on the market I would be recommending it to a lot of people especially for those wanting to upgrade to like their first proper gaming mouse but they might not know like what size to get or like what grip they're currently using or any of those Niche details dude just get this play around with it until it feels good for you and you're pretty much set this is also pretty good for those of you who like are Mouse collectors you know you buy like 10 of pretty much the same Mouse every single year they're just like a little bit different I know there's a lot of you out there here you're getting like 20 genuinely different feeling mice at least within the one box orbital have also told me that once they do the launch for the final thing they'll be releasing the 3D file for the rail guides which means that you'll be able to 3D print and make your own grips if you really want to it'll be like a free DLC for your gaming mouse so look for me I'm going to be sticking with the ultra lightweight stuff there's nothing changing there but this is definitely something that needs to exist and I'm happy that someone is working on it at the moment they're looking to launch this at $189 us which I think is actually really good value considering how much you're getting and although they are taking pre-orders soon they still have a decent way to go realistically you know none of the injection molding is finalized and neither is the firmware sometimes there can just be unexpected delays with stuff like this so just keep that in mind if you're planning on being a customer and pulling the trigger so yeah I mean clearly a lot of thought has gone into this I've spoken to the guys at orbital a couple of times now and it genuinely does seem like they want to make this thing as good as they possibly can by no means is it meant to replace your entire gaming mouse collection but with the mouse Market as dry and saturated as it currently is this is a breath of fresh airthis mouse and that Mouse are actually the same thing they're just configured differently it's called the orbital Pathfinder and it's about to be the first modular gaming mouse meaning that you can change the shape pretty dramatically to fit your own preferences up until now if you wanted a different shaped gaming mouse even slightly different you would have to buy an entirely new mouse and you might not even like it but this solves that problem if you want something that's a little bit longer maybe a little bit wider maybe a little bit more of an arch at the back for some more hand contact you can do that here within about 5 Seconds this is not a final product it's just the prototype for now but let me tell you it is too interesting not to take a look at I've always wondered what a modular gaming mouse would look like how would that even work how would it all fit together so let's take a look with the orbital Pathfinder you get the base Mouse which is this right here along with a box of parti shells parts for the left parts for the right and also the rear now I thought something like this maybe would be using small magnets or maybe really tiny screws but here they're actually using a rail and ratcheting mechanism which works pretty well the left and right side of the mouse have these pair of guides where the grips slide in and hold into place but they can also be pulled out really easily the Prototype I have here is 3D printed with resin which is then sanded and painted actually looks not bad at all but this mechanism in particular seems pretty durable and reliable so far not immediately what I would have thought of for a modular gaming mouse but yeah no complaints at all I also want to mention the base of the orbital which is you know without adding anything at all it's actually not unusable if you want something that is ultra narrow for fingertip grip for example it's pretty viable my thumb and Pinky oddly sit in a pretty comfortable spot this would also make it the thinnest gaming mouse that I know of with a taper of around 40 mm whereas something like the op18 or my own zero Mouse land around the 52 mark it would also be thinner than the mz1 which is just below 50 so yeah this feels pretty unique but of course the beauty is when you start adding stuff this is where it gets really interesting so we've got some left grips some Right Grips and some shells for the rear for the left side you're mostly changing how much of a flare there is and how far forward your thumb sets in this current kit you've got four different options from almost straight like the GPR super light to something with a lot more support what's also cool though is that you actually have spaces here to adjust the width of the mouse these just sandwich right in between The Mouse and the grips all up you can adjust the total width from that base 47 mm or so right up to like 65 mm if you want something that is super wide and then we've got the right side again you can go more streamlined more conventional something like this for example or something with a bit more flare or pinky support or maybe you want to try something that is really different like this proper dedicated ridges for your pinky finger and your ring finger I actually found myself using this configuration way more than I thought there are a couple more grips here like this style but they didn't seem to fit my hand that great but still pretty cool because you just won't find many gaming mice out there like this and then finally you've got the rear where basically you can adjust the amount of slope at the back maybe you want something that slopes down early like a razor Viper or something with a bit more support you also have es here too at the back by the way which might be my favorite part of this modular design all of our hand sizes are different so to be able to fine-tune the amount of hand contact and palm support that you prefer that is seriously cool so yeah orbital Pathfinder this thing is pretty sick you can create wildly different feeling mice within the same one Mouse which has just never been done before but how much does that actually matter I mean when most Pro players are using the G Pro superi which let's be honest this is the most shap Mouse in existence it does raise the question how much does Mouse shape even matter well for me I actually mained the G superl for a very long time I can swap back to this mouse no problem at all play pretty well with it and feel pretty much right at home at the same time it's a mouse where I was never 100% satisfied with it particularly the shape if though you gave me the option to do some small tweaks to it like give it some more Palm contact support at the rear maybe a bit more flare at the back that is something that I would do in an instant at the same time I don't think that Mouse shape is one of these things where you have to keep trying new options and buying different mice every month and you know keep searching for that elusive end game which is going to unlock some hidden potential which you never had before that is not how I see this product but you know at the very least just being able to like fine-tune the size of gaming mouse that you want forgetting about all the different shape tweaks that you can do just being able to adjust the size of your mouse is pretty Next Level and I I think that is probably one of the main things that people will get value of here and then after that yeah you can then play with the amount of flare or Arch that you want at the rear and then ultimately find something that allows you to play with a low tension really naturally feeling grip with a lot of mouse purchases out there you kind of have to roll the dice maybe even force yourself to get used to them but this you're almost guaranteed to find something that feels good also if you're super into this stuff maybe you're like an Enthusiast aim trainer for example this allows you to practice and train with other grip Styles which you might not be proficient with without buying another mouse now there are a few mice out there of course which the orbital can't even get close to replicating like the g303 the mz1 big ergonomic mice like the ec2 and of course my own zero Mouse I actually don't even think the orbital can fully mimic 100% the feel of medium mice like the super light or some options from Pulsar for example it can get close-ish but this is best thought of as its own thing the final product will be ABS injection molded which will be less dense than the resin that this prototype is using so it'll be about 10% lighter than what I have here realistically at the lightest you're looking at something between 45 and 50 g up to something that should land around that 60 G Mark at the heaviest so yeah that's not bad at all reasonably competitive actually with a lot of medium shell stuff out there this prototype as well is running some very pre-production firmware so I didn't play too long with it again was able to find a couple of configurations in particular that felt really comfortable to play with now if this was already a product on the market I would be recommending it to a lot of people especially for those wanting to upgrade to like their first proper gaming mouse but they might not know like what size to get or like what grip they're currently using or any of those Niche details dude just get this play around with it until it feels good for you and you're pretty much set this is also pretty good for those of you who like are Mouse collectors you know you buy like 10 of pretty much the same Mouse every single year they're just like a little bit different I know there's a lot of you out there here you're getting like 20 genuinely different feeling mice at least within the one box orbital have also told me that once they do the launch for the final thing they'll be releasing the 3D file for the rail guides which means that you'll be able to 3D print and make your own grips if you really want to it'll be like a free DLC for your gaming mouse so look for me I'm going to be sticking with the ultra lightweight stuff there's nothing changing there but this is definitely something that needs to exist and I'm happy that someone is working on it at the moment they're looking to launch this at $189 us which I think is actually really good value considering how much you're getting and although they are taking pre-orders soon they still have a decent way to go realistically you know none of the injection molding is finalized and neither is the firmware sometimes there can just be unexpected delays with stuff like this so just keep that in mind if you're planning on being a customer and pulling the trigger so yeah I mean clearly a lot of thought has gone into this I've spoken to the guys at orbital a couple of times now and it genuinely does seem like they want to make this thing as good as they possibly can by no means is it meant to replace your entire gaming mouse collection but with the mouse Market as dry and saturated as it currently is this is a breath of fresh air\n"